Opening ceremony of Public Service Counsellors’ workshop.

State Department for Public Service Principal Secretary Mr. Amos Gathecha today presided over the opening ceremony of Public Service Counsellors’ workshop which is being held at Lake Naivasha Resort, Nakuru County.
The workshop aims at providing all counsellors in the service with a platform to share their professional experiences, emerging legal, policy and professional issues in counselling field including evidence-based and innovative techniques and practices.
In his keynote address, the Principal Secretary said that the State Department for Public Service has invested in provision of continuous training and supervision of counsellors as a means to ensure that their practice is informed by current trends and  approaches in the mental health field.
“This workshop will help in restoring counsellors emotionally and equipping them technically to avoid burnout and enhance team building for effective mental health services provision in the service” said Mr. Gathecha.
The Principal Secretary also revealed that plans are underway to recruit more counsellors into the service so as to reach more public servants who require counselling services as a result of various reasons.
He also added that Mental health challenges significantly affect productivity within the public service. According to the Kenya Mental Health Investment Case (2021), the country lost KShs. 62.2 billion due to mental health conditions, which is equivalent to 0.6% of our GDP in 2020. Absenteeism and presenteeism accounted for the largest share of this annual cost at 49% and 30% respectively, while total health care expenditure represented only 9% of all mental health-related costs.
On her part, Director ,Psychological Counselling Services Madam Grace Wanjiku reiterated that high quality of mental health services in the public service is dependent on availability of competent and motivated counsellors for efficient and effective service provision.